After removing the bolt and setting an initial bore sight at a plain target 6" black circle @ 100 yds a first shot of 55gn Sierra GameKing SP with 23,8 grains of Vit 133 behind it put it 2 1/2 inches high, so happy at that and looking for an initial group, 4 more shots proved a 1/2 MOA rifle out of the box...after a quick clean down, de-coke and copper removal session, it was time to zero the rifle and scope.

3 More rounds and it became clear that i didnt need the spotting scope with the SN3 giving a dead clear picture set on 12 power, i could easily see the POI on the target. Within 2 more groups i had her right on the money. Moving the BDC dial to Zero was simplicity itself, and done in seconds.

A total of 50 rounds through the Chrono and no spotting scope required proved the hunting capability of the combo.

After a thorough de-coppering session and clean, retighten of all bolts (and as i always do, a paint mark on each bolt head to prove tightness at any inspection on the scope mounts)

A night of hunting.

Day 2/

Well evening actually, a trip to my local hunting grounds looking fo a pair of troublesome foxes which had been causing some serious damage.

This was the USO's first evening shoot and a direct comparison to the S&B was inevitable.

9.20PM and after 20 mins of tracking, we caught up with the first fox, a Vixen at 320 yards est using the SN3's M Dots, knowing the approx height of my quarry (a fully grown Vixen) it was a breeze. Making the adjustments for a 150 yard shot with no lamp assist was simplicity and the BDC worked effortlessly (a concern i had was the lack of feel of the clicks, but i proved my concerns ill concieved as i could easily count the clicks even if it was too dark) but on this occasion light was good enough for perfect vision of the well marked BDC.

A quick conversation to my *spotter* and co-driver equiped with a Leica Geovid confirmed my ranging within 4 yards...mmmm NOT BAD, a certain score for the M Dot accuracy and ease of use on the scope.

I quiclky picked out the area of interception on the trail and again ranged it out to 150 yards, again another quick discussion and a ping from the Geovids confirmed the distance to the shooting zone....score 2, now we were getting used the the scope so a shot would be confident of a first kill.

A quick sucession of squeeks ( i dont use manufactured callers ) and the vixen was soon inbound to our hidden location, all curiosity and caution.

At the pre determined point the shot rang out at 3300 fps and i could clearly see the target in the low light conditions at dusk. A visible impact and a perfect placed shot, right in the engine room. She droped without even a twitch. I could see everthing going on with the scope set to 12 mag and no ARD fitted (i always take them off for night and low light hunting use) I knew as soon as the trigger clicked...it was just one of those shots, im sure you know the ones

The second fox (a Dog fox and i suspect the vixens breeding partner) proved a little more cunning. We waited as the light faded to pitch black with no success or visibility of our quarry. We decided to relocate to another section of the land where there were more runs and tracks. As we were moving AO's i kept looking through the scope to scan ahead, as this was a true test of the USO we decided not to use any NV equipment only lamps with red filters our naked eyes and the scope. It became obvious very quickly that the USO has less light transmission than my other S&B PMII's but it was a pleasant supprise that the USO was better than i anticipated and scanning with the scope set on 8 mag was delivering a decent moonlight picture.

Set up by the next trail and sure enough, there was charlie fox...i estimated 500 yards and zoomed the scope in and reconfirmed the range...still no use of the lamp, i could see him clearly at 12 power mag, another fumble to 17X mag and the scope just lost its edge, back down to 12 and all became visible again...thats where the sweet spot is for night work!!

Geovids proved me 20 yards out (still good enough for a shot). We waited and observed with a decent downwind position. 1/2 hr later old Charlie appeared at a tree line 210yards away through the trail hole in the hedge row....we just knew he would be there and the rifle was set up for the pre-determined range.....crack and he dropped just as he turned at the last moment i pulled the trigger. Instead of a chest shot in the side, he got a snout shot right through the bone dome. Everything was clear as dawn or dusk and i could see with ease even with the lit reticule set low. PERFECT.

The combo was packed up and cleaned at home...a great first outing and a definate thumbs up for the SN3.

Next proof of the scope was a session at the Bisley ranges in the UK in preparation for the Phoenix meeting in Mid July. I take part in the famous McQueens competition.

1/ 300 yard visibility on the first target.

PERFECT and no need for 17 power, again she set at 12 mag. A new loadout for the gun was a 73gn Berger LTB with 25 gns of Vit 140 giving 2868fps according to the chrono, quick check on the laptop and the BDC was set for the first shot....6 inches high but still a 5 score near the 4 ring line. a couple of adjustments and the second shot was a perfect V bull hitting the X mark on the paper, for test purposes we fired 9 more shots to confirm zero was 100%. We then zoomed out to 4X and 5 shots, then 5x 5 more shots....6x all the way up to 17X every one was parallax free and a perfect 5 Vbull.....a confirmation of the scopes abillity to zoom without loss of zero.

Noting down the new zero for 300 we moved in the afternoow to 600 yards. Using Sierra's 5.1 software we took an estimation of the correction and turned the BDC to the value required.

1st shot clipped the V-5 line, one click adjust and she was in the V bull zone.

60 more rounds with varying mag and the odd widage correction using the MDot's not the RL correction knob due to the gusting conditiond in the afternoon.

For a light caliber rifle...it has won my heart and confidence.

This combination of SN3 and the Tikka T3 Tactical has proved itself worthy of mention and a rifle scope combo i would definately recommend to anyone who want a tactical / hunter combo.

Easy and very fine adjustments, lit reticule which does not over flow the tube with light. A BDC which is accurate and a Zoom parallax quality second to none.

If i had one criticizm it would be the parallax know is very tight if the scope or weather is damp, your fingers have difficulty gripping with enough force.

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